Career

High school and college

Gervin attended Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, where he struggled on and off the court until he reached his senior year, when he had a growth spurt and averaged 31 points and 20 rebounds to lead his school to the state quarterfinals.

Gervin received a scholarship to play for Jerry Tarkanian at Long Beach State, but had such a culture shock that he returned home before the first semester was over. He transferred to Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan and averaged 29.5 points as a sophomore forward in 1971-72.

While competing in an NCAA College Division national semifinal game in Evansville, Indiana, Gervin punched a Roanoke College player. Gervin was suspended for the following season and eventually was kicked off the team. Invitations to try out for the Olympic and Pan-American teams were withdrawn.

Virginia Squires

Gervin initially played for the Pontiac (Michigan) Chaparrals of the Eastern Basketball Association, where he was spotted by Johnny Kerr, a scout for the Virginia Squires of the ABA. Kerr signed Gervin to the Squires for a $40,000 a year contract.

Gervin's time in Virginia would be short-lived, however. The Squires' finances had never been stable, and they had been forced to start trading their best players to get enough money to stay alive. In the space of only four months, they traded Julius Erving and Swen Nater for cash and/or draft picks. During the 1974 ABA All-Star Weekend, rumors abounded that the Squires were in talks about dealing Gervin for cash. The rumors turned out to be true; on January 30 Gervin was sold to the Spurs for $228,000. The ABA tried to block the trade, claiming that by trading their last legitimate star, the Squires were holding a fire sale. However, a court sided with the Spurs. Within two years, the Squires were no more.

San Antonio Spurs

With Gervin as the centerpiece, the Spurs transformed from a primarily defense-oriented team into an exciting fast-breaking team that played what coach Bob Bass called "schoolyard basketball". Although the Spurs never won an ABA playoff series during Gervin's first three years there, their high-powered offense made them very attractive to the NBA, and the Spurs joined the more established league as part of the 1976 ABA-NBA merger.

Gervin's first NBA scoring crown came in 1978, when he narrowly edged David Thompson for the scoring title by seven hundredths of a point (27.22 to 27.15). Although Thompson came up with a memorable performance for the last game of the regular season, scoring 73 points, Gervin maintained his slight lead by scoring 63 points (including a then NBA record 33 points in the second quarter) in a loss in his last game of the season. With the scoring crown in hand, he sat out some of the third, and all of the fourth quarter.

Gervin went on to lead the NBA in scoring average three years in a row from 1978 to 1980 (with a high of 33.1 points per game in 1979-80), and again in 1982. Prior to Michael Jordan, Gervin had the most scoring titles of any guard in league history. In 1981, while sitting out 3 games due to injury, Gervin's replacement, Ron Brewer, averaged over 30 ppg. When Gervin returned, he scored 40+ points. When asked if he was sending a message, Gervin said, "Just the way the Lord planned it" and added, "Ice be cool" (with Ron Brewer). In 1982, the Spurs drafted high scoring guards Oliver Robinson of UAB and Tony Grier from South Florida to take some offensive pressure off Gervin.

Chicago Bulls

In 1985, Gervin was traded to the Chicago Bulls for forward David Greenwood after missing multiple preseason workouts amid the possibility of being relegated to the bench by new head coach, Cotton Fitzsimmons. The Bulls' rising star Michael Jordan stated he was "unhappy" after the trade. The last NBA game of Gervin's career was Jordan's 63 point game against the Boston Celtics in the playoffs on April 20, 1986. Gervin recorded 1 assist and 1 personal foul in five minutes of play for the Bulls.

Post-NBA career

When he left the NBA, Gervin played for several years in Europe: in Italy for Banco Roma during the 1986-87 season where he averaged 26.1 points per game, and in the Spanish National Basketball League for TDK Manresa team (he was 38 years old at the time). At this point in his career he had lost some of his quickness, but his scoring instinct remained; he averaged 25.5 points, 5 rebounds and 1.2 assists, and in his last match he scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to keep Manresa in the first Spanish division.

Career summary and legacy

Nicknamed Iceman for his cool demeanor on the court, Gervin was primarily known for his scoring talents.

Gervin's trademark move was the finger roll, a shot in which one rolls the basketball along his or her fingertips. While others mimicked this style when shooting layups, Gervin was known to "finger roll" from as far as the free throw line.

Gervin's legacy has inspired other athletes, such as Gary Payton who said Gervin was his favorite player to watch as a kid. He was also idolized by former NFL and Heisman-winning quarterback Ty Detmer. Detmer records in his autobiography that he was elated to receive Gervin's autograph one day as a youth in San Antonio.

Awards and records

Gervin was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996; additionally his #44 jersey has been retired by the Spurs and he was named to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players. Gervin was ranked #45 on SLAM Magazine's Top 50 NBA Players of All Time in 2009.

He remains active in the San Antonio community with his seven organizations designed specifically for underprivileged kids, including the George Gervin Youth Center. Gervin is beloved in San Antonio and believes that his own experience as an underprivileged child in Michigan inspired him to get involved.

At the time of his trade to the Bulls, he held nearly every significant scoring record in Spurs history. Many of his records have been surpassed by David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Gervin retired with the most blocks by any guard in NBA history.

Though a revered NBA and ABA All-Star and Hall of Famer, Gervin never made an appearance with a team in either an NBA or ABA championship series during his 13-year career in American professional basketball.

Gervin holds the distinction of being a former teammate of both Julius Erving (with the Squires) and Michael Jordan (with the Bulls).

On his 2009 release Slaughterhouse on the Prairie American guitarist Buckethead dedicated a track to Gervin. The song's name was Iceman.

Career statistics

GP Games played GS Games started MIN Minutes per game FG% Field-goal percentage 3P% 3-point field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage OFF Offensive rebounds per game DEF Defensive rebounds per game REB Total rebounds per game AST Assists per game STL Steals per game BLK Blocks per game TOV Turnovers per game PF Fouls per game PTS Points per game

	Led the league
Bold	Denotes career highs

Regular season

Season	League	Team	GP	GS	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	OFF	DEF	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
1972-73	ABA	Virginia	30	…	23.0	.472	.231	.814	1.1	3.1	4.3	1.1	…	…	1.8	2.4	14.1
1973-74	ABA	Virginia/San Antonio	74	…	33.9	.471	.143	.815	2.3	6.1	8.4	1.9	1.4	1.6	3.4	3.6	23.4
1974-75	ABA	San Antonio	84	…	37.1	.474	.309	.830	2.9	5.4	8.3	2.5	1.6	1.6	3.0	3.5	23.4
1975-76	ABA	San Antonio	81	…	33.9	.499	.255	.857	2.2	4.5	6.7	2.5	1.4	1.5	2.7	3.6	21.8
1976-77	NBA	San Antonio	82	…	33.0	.544	…	.833	1.6	3.9	5.5	2.9	1.3	1.3	…	3.5	23.1
1977-78	NBA	San Antonio	82	…	34.8	.536	…	.830	1.4	3.7	5.1	3.7	1.7	1.3	3.7	3.1	27.2
1978-79	NBA	San Antonio	80	…	36.1	.541	…	.826	1.8	3.2	5.0	2.7	1.7	1.1	3.6	3.4	29.6
1979-80	NBA	San Antonio	78	…	37.6	.528	.314	.852	2.0	3.2	5.2	2.6	1.4	1.0	3.3	2.7	33.1
1980-81	NBA	San Antonio	82	…	33.7	.492	.257	.826	1.5	3.6	5.1	3.2	1.1	0.7	3.1	2.6	27.1
1981-82	NBA	San Antonio	79	79	35.7	.500	.278	.864	1.7	3.2	5.0	2.4	1.0	0.6	2.7	2.7	32.3
1982-83	NBA	San Antonio	78	78	36.3	.487	.364	.853	1.4	3.2	4.6	3.4	1.1	0.9	3.2	3.1	26.2
1983-84	NBA	San Antonio	76	76	34.0	.490	.417	.842	1.4	2.7	4.1	2.9	1.0	0.6	2.9	2.9	25.9
1984-85	NBA	San Antonio	72	69	29.0	.508	.000	.844	1.1	2.2	3.3	2.5	0.9	0.7	2.8	2.9	21.2
1985-86	NBA	Chicago	82	75	25.2	.472	.211	.879	1.0	1.7	2.6	1.8	0.6	0.3	2.0	2.6	16.2
NBA Career			791	…	33.5	.511	.297	.844	1.5	3.1	4.6	2.8	1.2	0.8	3.0	2.9	26.2
ABA Career			269	…	33.7	.480	.234	.831	2.3	5.1	7.4	2.2	1.4	1.6	2.9	3.4	21.9
Total Career			1,060	…	33.6	.504	.271	.841	1.7	3.6	5.3	2.6	1.2	1.0	3.0	3.1	25.1

Career highs

40 point games

In the NBA, Gervin scored 40 or more points 68 times in the regular season and six times in the playoffs.

Occurred in playoff competition

Points	Opponent	Home/Away	Date	FGM	FGA	FTM	FTA	3PM
63	New Orleans Jazz	Away	000000001978-04-09-0000April 9, 1978	23	49	17	20	—
55	Indiana Pacers	Away	000000001980-01-23-0000January 23, 1980	21	32	12		1
53	Denver Nuggets	Home	000000001980-01-08-0000January 8, 1980	23	40	7		0
52	San Diego Clippers	Home	000000001979-01-11-0000January 11, 1979	24	33	4		—
50	Milwaukee Bucks	Home	000000001982-03-06-0000March 6, 1982	21	31	8		0
49	Boston Celtics	Home	000000001981-02-17-0000February 17, 1981	17		15		0
49	Detroit Pistons	Home	000000001982-02-17-0000February 17, 1982	22	29	5		0
48	Boston Celtics	Home	000000001982-03-04-0000March 4, 1982	17		14		0
47	Cleveland Cavaliers	Away	000000001979-10-18-0000October 18, 1979	21	35	4		1
47	Golden State Warriors	Home	000000001979-11-13-0000November 13, 1979	22	33	3		0
47	Seattle SuperSonics	Away	000000001981-11-13-0000November 13, 1981	15		17	18	0
47	Portland Trail Blazers	Away	000000001982-01-05-0000January 5, 1982	19	30	8	9	1
47	Utah Jazz	Away	000000001982-03-27-0000March 27, 1982	18		11		0
47	Phoenix Suns	Home	000000001982-11-07-0000November 7, 1982	16	31	14	14	1
47	New Jersey Nets	Home	000000001985-01-29-0000January 29, 1985	16	25	15	18	0
46	San Diego Clippers	Away	000000001978-10-18-0000October 18, 1978	16		14		—
46	Houston Rockets	Home	000000001979-03-30-0000March 30, 1979	15		16	18	—
46	Cleveland Cavaliers	Away	000000001979-04-03-0000April 3, 1979	18	27	10		—
46	Philadelphia 76ers	Home	000000001979-12-27-0000December 27, 1979	14		18	21	0
46	San Diego Clippers	Home	000000001981-12-29-0000December 29, 1981	21	31	4		0
46	Washington Bullets	Home	000000001978-04-18-0000April 18, 1978	17	32	12	15	—
45	Portland Trail Blazers	Home	000000001981-12-04-0000December 4, 1981	20	30	5		0
45	Golden State Warriors	Away	000000001982-01-07-0000January 7, 1982	15		15		0
45	Dallas Mavericks	Away	000000001982-11-27-0000November 27, 1982	18	39	9		0
45	Dallas Mavericks	Away	000000001986-01-27-0000January 27, 1986	15	29	15	16	0
44	Chicago Bulls	Home	000000001982-11-26-0000November 26, 1982	17	31	10	12	0
44	Kansas City Kings	Home	000000001983-12-29-0000December 29, 1983	16	27	12	13	0
44	Houston Rockets	Home	000000001980-04-04-0000April 4, 1980
43	Detroit Pistons	Home	000000001978-10-28-0000October 28, 1978	16		11		—
43	Los Angeles Lakers	Away	000000001979-12-16-0000December 16, 1979	20	40	2		1
43	Washington Bullets	Away	000000001983-12-20-0000December 20, 1983	20	33	3	7	0
43	Philadelphia 76ers	Away	000000001983-12-21-0000December 21, 1983	16	26	11	15	0
42	Seattle SuperSonics	Away	000000001977-01-30-0000January 30, 1977	14		14		—
42	Kansas City Kings	Away	000000001978-01-29-0000January 29, 1978	19	25	4		—
42	Washington Bullets	Home	000000001979-05-11-0000May 11, 1979	19	31	4	6	—
42	Washington Bullets	Away	000000001979-05-18-0000May 18, 1979	16	31	10	13	—
42	Philadelphia 76ers	Away	000000001979-12-05-0000December 5, 1979	17		7		1
42	Phoenix Suns	Home	000000001980-01-02-0000January 2, 1980	18		6		0
42	Cleveland Cavaliers	Away	000000001980-01-17-0000January 17, 1980	16		8		2
42	Washington Bullets	Home	000000001980-01-19-0000January 19, 1980	18	34	6	7	0
42	Milwaukee Bucks	Home	000000001980-02-17-0000February 17, 1980	18		6		0
42	Golden State Warriors	Away	000000001980-11-01-0000November 1, 1980	16		10		0
42	Washington Bullets	Away	000000001981-12-01-0000December 1, 1981	17	30	8	10	0
42	Houston Rockets	Home	000000001981-12-30-0000December 30, 1981	17		8		0
42	Washington Bullets	Home	000000001982-02-09-0000February 9, 1982	16	28	10	13	0
42	San Diego Clippers	Away	000000001982-11-11-0000November 11, 1982	16	27	9	10	1
42	Kansas City Kings	Away	000000001983-02-25-0000February 25, 1983	12		18	22	0
42	Denver Nuggets	Home	000000001983-04-26-0000April 26, 1983	17	22	8	8	0
42	San Diego Clippers	Away	000000001984-03-18-0000March 18, 1984	14	29	14	15	0
42	Cleveland Cavaliers	Home	000000001984-11-10-0000November 10, 1984	18	23	6	6	0
42	Houston Rockets	Away	000000001985-01-25-0000January 25, 1985	21	26	0	0	0
41	Portland Trail Blazers	Home	000000001977-01-23-0000January 23, 1977	14		13		—
41	Seattle SuperSonics	Home	000000001978-03-08-0000March 8, 1978	15		11		—
41	Detroit Pistons	Away	000000001979-10-26-0000October 26, 1979	17		6	7	1
41	Denver Nuggets	Away	000000001979-12-11-0000December 11, 1979	14		12		1
41	Houston Rockets	Home	000000001980-02-12-0000February 12, 1980	15		8		3
41	New Jersey Nets	Away	000000001980-02-24-0000February 24, 1980	16	27	9	9	0
41	Washington Bullets	Away	000000001980-03-11-0000March 11, 1980	16	30	9	10	0
41	Indiana Pacers	Home	000000001980-03-21-0000March 21, 1980	15		11		0
41	Portland Trail Blazers	Away	000000001980-12-07-0000December 7, 1980	17		7		0
41	Cleveland Cavaliers	Away	000000001982-03-20-0000March 20, 1982	16		6		3
41	Detroit Pistons	Home	000000001983-02-08-0000February 8, 1983	19	31	3	4	0
41	New York Knicks	Home	000000001984-01-31-0000January 31, 1984	19	31	3	6	0
41	Denver Nuggets	Away	000000001985-04-20-0000April 20, 1985	16	25	9	11	0
40	Kansas City Kings	Away	000000001978-03-25-0000March 25, 1978	15		10		—
40	New York Knicks	Home	000000001980-03-07-0000March 7, 1980	15		8	12	2
40	Utah Jazz	Home	000000001981-12-12-0000December 12, 1981	18	33	4		0
40	Detroit Pistons	Away	000000001982-02-25-0000February 25, 1982	18	31	4		0
40	San Diego Clippers	Away	000000001982-03-09-0000March 9, 1982	14		12		0
40	Washington Bullets	Away	000000001982-11-17-0000November 17, 1982	14	29	12	15	0
40	Los Angeles Lakers	Away	000000001983-02-15-0000February 15, 1983	16	24	8	9	0
40	Dallas Mavericks	Away	000000001983-04-16-0000April 16, 1983	15		10		0
40	Houston Rockets	Home	000000001984-01-13-0000January 13, 1984	15	26	10	12	0
40	Golden State Warriors	Away	000000001984-02-02-0000February 2, 1984	17	31	6	6	0

Regular season

Stat	High	Opponent	Date
Points	63	at New Orleans Jazz	000000001978-04-09-0000April 9, 1978
Points, half	53	at New Orleans Jazz	000000001978-04-09-0000April 9, 1978
Points, quarter	33	at New Orleans Jazz	000000001978-04-09-0000April 9, 1978
Consecutive points, first half	22	at New Orleans Jazz	000000001978-04-09-0000April 9, 1978
Consecutive points, first half	18	at New Orleans Jazz	000000001978-04-09-0000April 9, 1978
Field goal percentage	17-18 (.944)	vs. Chicago Bulls	000000001978-02-18-0000February 18, 1978
Field goals made	24	vs. San Diego Clippers	000000001979-01-11-0000January 11, 1979
Field goal attempts	49	at New Orleans Jazz	000000001978-04-09-0000April 9, 1978
Free throws made, none missed	—
Free throws made, one missed	—
Free throws made	18	vs. Philadelphia 76ers	000000001979-12-27-0000December 27, 1979
Free throws made	18	at Kansas City Kings	000000001983-02-25-0000February 25, 1983
Free throw attempts	22	at Kansas City Kings	000000001983-02-25-0000February 25, 1983
Three-point field goals made
Three-point field goal attempts
Rebounds	18	vs. Denver Nuggets	000000001982-04-13-0000April 13, 1982
Offensive rebounds
Defensive rebounds
Assists	11
Steals
Blocked shots
Turnovers
Minutes played

Playoffs

Stat	High	Opponent	Date
Points	46	vs. Washington Bullets	000000001978-04-18-0000April 18, 1978
Field goal percentage
Field goals made	19	vs. Washington Bullets	000000001979-05-11-0000May 11, 1979
Field goals made	19	vs. Houston Rockets	000000001980-04-04-0000April 4, 1980
Field goal attempts	32
Free throws made, none missed	—
Free throws made, one missed	—
Free throws made	14	at Los Angeles Lakers	000000001982-05-09-0000May 9, 1982
Free throw attempts	17
Three-point field goals made
Three-point field goal attempts
Rebounds	15	vs. Los Angeles Lakers	000000001982-05-14-0000May 14, 1982
Offensive rebounds
Defensive rebounds
Assists	9
Steals
Blocked shots
Turnovers	9	at Los Angeles Lakers	000000001983-05-08-0000May 8, 1983
Minutes played

Personal life

Gervin played interscholastic basketball while attending Martin Luther King High School; he was a Detroit Free Press All-State selection in 1970. George has a son, George Gervin, Jr. (nicknamed "Gee"), who has played for the Harlem Globetrotters and in the Swedish League for the Norrköping Dolphins.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]